Winter Storm

Winter Storm Orlena Becomes New York City's First Foot-Plus Snowstorm in Five Years

At a Glance

Orlena is the first winter storm to bring New York City a foot or more of snow in five years.
On average, the city sees a one-foot plus snowstorm about once every four years.

Winter Storm Orlena has become the first snowstorm to bring New York City a foot or more of snowfall in five years.

New York City's Central Park picked up 17.2 inches of snow from Orlena late Sunday into early Tuesday. Orlena could bring a little more snowfall to New York on Tuesday, so this total might climb a bit higher.

The last time the Big Apple picked up a foot or more of snowfall in a single winter storm was Jan. 22-24, 2016, when Winter Storm Jonas buried the city under 27.5 inches. That stands as the heaviest snowstorm at the city's Central Park reporting station in records dating to 1869.

On average, Central Park has seen a foot or more of snow in a single winter storm about once every 4 years. That's a total of 36 such winter storms in the past 151 years, according to statistics compiled by the National Weather Service.

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Snowstorms that have produced 20 or more inches in New York City are even rarer. That's happened at Central Park just seven times since 1869, with four of them occurring this century.

New York City Snowfall Forecast
(This shows the forecast in addition to what has already fallen.)

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